Upholstery machine



Oct. 28, 1941. c. A. BOYD UPHOLSTERY MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, ess 5Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR 066i Bo g J BY WW m NW Oct. 28, 1941. c. A. BOYD2,260,361

UPI-IOLSTERY MACHINE Filed Feb. 18, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR B 362a a-0 F A TTORN Y5.

61 67214. BY Al Oct.-28, 1941.

c. A. BOYD 2,260,361 UPHOLSTERY MACHiNE Filed Feb. 18, 1938 Sh ets ShPatented Oct. 28, 1941 rumreo FE'STAT ATE-NT." OFFICE? J fUPHo sTnRYMACHINE Cecil; Anderson Boyd, Rochester,-Mich., 'assignor to' BriggsManufacturing Company, Detroit,

Mich, a corporation of Michigan Application Thi inventionrelates to amethod of securing rtions of this general character .with theause: of vconventional sewing machines utilizinga manual feed .of the trim panelmaterials; However, such a practice has a number ofserious-disadvantages. Manual operation of i the sewing machine andmanual manipulation of the {parts under high production conditions, andassembling together by hand the cardboard panels, pieces of feltpad-rding, cloth fabric, fiber stripsandthe like, kept unfastened until theyare sewn together; has proved to be a very difficult operation; ItIIliasrequired a considerable number ,of operators to work in close proximityto the machine,..in consequence whereof -large panels handled'in,a'small space produce confusion and disorder; in the, department-Inaddition, the assembled pieces be- Feb ary 1s, 1e3c,'seria.i 191,161.3 Claims. rel. 11252),

I A further object of the invention to provide an upholsterysewingmachine in which there are provided improved means :whereby the.assembled pieces of work are tightly and securely held together duringthe feeding thereof to-the machine and during the process of sewing,wherecome veryeasilydisplaced either before getting into the machine orduring. the actualkprocess of sewing, which results in high percentageof scrap,

frequent stops, low production and waste of labor and material. I

One of the objects of the present-invention is to provide animprovedmethod of. securing fabric upholstery material to a cardboard panel orthe v like used for interior trim of motor vehicles, whereby a simpler,less expensive trimmingof improved appearance is produced."

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved machine forperforming the operations contemplated by the above method, means beingprovided for feeding the machine automatically at a predetermined rateof speed, whereby the machine is caused to operate at its capacity forlong periods of time. 7

Still another object of the invention is to'provide an improved machinefor performing the operations contemplated by my improved method, saidmachine being provided with means whereby the parts entering into thestructure are assembled quickly and accurately in a predetermined mutualspaced relation and with a minimum of manual 1abor,,whereby a faster anda more dependable production is insured, and the space in the plant ismore economically utilized.

by the displacementof such pieces-is prevented. 'A still further objectof the invention. is to provide an improved upholstery sewing..ma-chinein which there are provided-means whereby bulging of the cloth orfabric-on the=cardboard rang is greatly minimized. a l I It is anadditional object of; the present invention to i provide an improvedupholstery machine of the foregoing character; which is relativelysimple in :constructiomrapid and'serviceable in use, and inexpensive tobuild andservice.

- Other objects of 'this invention will .appear in the followingdescriptionv and appended, claims;

reference being, had to the. accompanying drawings forming apart of thisspecification. wherein like reference characters designate correspond-.ing partsin the several viewsrv ,1

I Fig; 1 is a perspective'view of ,the upholstery machine-constructed inaccordance with oneembodiment of the invention and viewed from'thereceiving or feeding end of the machine} Fig. 2 is aperspective' View ofthe samemachine from the delivery end thereof. a

Fig.3 .is a perspective-view of the machine on an enlarged scale,illustrating particularly the stitching mechanism and the endof theconveyor adjacent thereto at the feeding side of the stitchingmechanism. 1

Fig. 4 is another perspective view of themaI- chine from the deliveryend thereof.

Fig. 5 is a transverse sectional view taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 3,looking in the direction of thearrows.-. Fig. 6 is atrans'versesectional View through the delivery end of the upper conveyor, thesection being taken on the line 6-.-6 of Fig. 2,'loo-king..in thedirection of the arrows. f a Figs.;7, 8, 9, l0 and ll illustrate thesteps of' upholstering theupper part of adoor .panel in accord-ancewithmy improved method, which steps may be done with the aid of the machineherein disclosed. Figs. 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 are fragmentary sectionalviews taken through the seam, of the door panel, thesections beingtakenon the lines l-2l2 of Fig. '7, l3-l3 of Fig. 8, 14-14 of Fig. 9,|5I5 of Fig. 10 and -|6-l.6.of Fig. 11 respectively.

stered.

In Fig. 7 there is shown a relatively stiff or rigid panel 20 made ofcardboard or any other,

- pose of description and not of limitation, and

it is not intended to limit the invention claimed herein beyond therequirements of the prior art.

"2,260,361 v r upholstering the body panel, and they may be performed byhand or with the aid of machines of difierent types.

I prefer to perform said operations with the aid of my improved machinehereinafter described and illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 inclusive.

In the drawings there is illustrated, by way of example, an improvedmethod of securing pieces of upholstery cloth to substantiallyrigidpane1s.- In the present instance my improved method is illustrated inapplication to the process of upholstering the upper part of a cardboarddoor panel, such as may be used in trimming the interior of a motorvehicle body. However, .itwill be understood that my improved methodmaybe used with equal success in other connections.

In' the drawings there is also illustrated,- by way of' example, animproved continuously operating machine with the aid of which'it ispossible to perform *all the operations contemplated by myimprovedmethod. I Figs-U to" 16 inclusive illustrate-the'successive stepsorthefoperations included-in my method.

As illustrated, the method contemplates upholsteringthe upper part of acardboard door panel, the lower part whereof has already been upholsuitable material which panelor foundation sheet:

is covered with a sheet of; padding 2| made of felt, wadding, batting orother suitable mate-'- rial, which sheet is substantially coextensivewith the panel 20'. The lower A, part of thepadded f paneLsaidparty-appearing as the upper part in the drawings, is covered with apiece of uphol-v stery cloth 22, said cloth, padding and cardboard panelbeing secured together in any suitable manner, suchas by transversestitching as indicated Figs. 8 and 12 illustrate the first step of upthepanel, which stepcomprises providing a piece of cloth 24 .of the sizeand shape to .coverthe portion of the padded fsheetf2l remaininguncovered. The sheet 24 is arranged with its lower edge. 2441 along theed e of the sheet 22 as shown in Fig. 8. It is to be'noted that thesheet 24 is a laid on the panel with its finished or outer face downandit extends toward the lower (upper in,

the drawings) edge of the door panel.

The second step is to provide, a narrow reinforcing strip l9 madeoffiber or any'other suit-v able material, which. strip is superimposedon the sheet 24 along the lower edge thereof as'illustrated in,1 igs.,9.and 14.

Thereupon, the reinforcing strip, the ,cloth piece, the layer of paddingand the fiber board panel ,are stitched through by a line of stitchingWe as illustrated in Figs. 10 and .15. It will be noted thatthetransverse'line of stitching l9a is parallel to but spacedfrom the lineof stitching 23. i g

The sheet 24 is then turned over to'cover the upper portion of the feltcovered'door panel as illustratedin Figs. 11 andv 16, the strip l9 beingalso bent .or folded back upon itself as indicated.

The operations of the above described method may be somewhat changed tosuit the particular circumstances and shapes of-"the 'parts'used in dleoperating mechanism is supported on the bridge'Z'l, and fit-includes amounting or guide block 28..in .'which, there is. provided a ,reciproating n ed e a 29 car y n a nee e 13 The reciprocations of said bar 29are effected by means of an eccentric 3l provided on the/shaft- Ymfainshafti 45Q33 through the vertical shaftg34 drivingly con-" vWiththe aid of said machine they cardboard panels and the cloth sheets arefed to-a stitch-- ing mechanism automatically and continuously, whileassembling and the proper alignment thereof is done by an operatorstanding near the feeding end of the machine.

As illustrated in the drawings, the machine comprises generally astitching mechanism of any suitable type, and a conveyor moving thecardboard panels toward the stitching mechanism, means being providedforassembling and proper alignment of the panel parts and firme'ngagemeritof the assembled units before 'stitchingand feeding therncontinuously ata predetermined,

rate of speed to said stitching mechanism.

Referring to the drawings, the machine com 5 prises aitable or bed 25on. which there is pro yided' an upstanding frame 26." The' stitchingmechanism maybe of anysuitable conventional type, andsince the stitchingmechanism -itself; forms no part of the present invention no detaileddescription thereof is deemed to be necessary, and only a briefdescription thereof,.neces-" sary for a full understandingof'thedrawings, ,f is given herein. The stitching mechanism eon-1 sists'o'ftwo parts :-a needle operating-mechanism and afloop'er operating.mechanism, sa jpa'rts being adapt d to form a use of stitching ii-the!workmoved between them-*.with the feeding means hereinafter describedindetail. 7 The nee" 32, "which shaft is driven from the nected with saidmain and said eccentric shafts" with the aid of two bevel gear drives 35and 36. bolstering the upper (lower in Fig. 8) part of The looperoperating mechanism is assembled; I

on the lower bridge31 and the lower member 38 of the upstanding frame26; The threads arefed to the needle and to the looper from 'thespools39 and 40 respectively. Both the needle operating mechanism and thelooper operating mechanism may be adiustably moved on their respectivebridges and secured thereon in such places as to suit work of someparticular dimensions. The looper operating mechanism is actuated by theshaft 4| driven from the main shaft 33 through the vertical shaft 34 anddrivingly connected therewith by means of a train'of gears including a Itwo bevel gears 42 and. two spur gears 43 designed to provide'the propergear ratio. The flywheel 44 is provided on the eccentric shaft 3! toinsure a smoother operation of the stitching mechanism; Devices 45 areprovided in .order to eifecit a proper tension on the thread.

Means automatically feeding the assembled panels to the stitchingmechanism comprise, in the present embodiment, a horizontal frame ortable 46 in which there is arranged a conveyor comprising a number ofresilient connectors, in the present instance two endless feed chains 41and 48 running on toothed wheels mounted on the driving shaft 49, whichshaft is in turn driven from-the main shaft 33 through a reduction .box50 and a chain drive 5|. At the receiving end and moved toward thestitching mechanism. The

of the conveyor the chains 41 and '48 run on idler gears covered, forreasons of safety, by a guard .52. With the .aid of the above "describedconveyor, the'panels which'are manuallyput one "by one on the .conveyorare continuously moved toward the stitching mechanism.

In order to insure 'proper positioning of the card-board panels 'onitheconveyor, a gauge bar 53 is provided along the chain '41. The operatorstanding on .the right :hand (looking toward the stitching mechanismfrom the deliveryendof the conveyor) side of .the conveyor loads thepanels, such as shown in Fig. 7, on the conveyor, the'edg'e 54 of thepanel being put against-the gauge bar 53, see Fig. 5. By virtue oftheprovision of ,the gauge bar 53, the panels are thus properly alignedon the conveyor.

Cooperating with the feed chain 41 and effective to assist the same infeeding the panels toward the stitch forming mechanism is a flexibleconnector such as an endless feed chain 51 upon which is secured afabric cover belt 51a. The lower course of the belt 51a engages undersuitable pressure the upper fabric covered face of the trim panel (Fig.5). The lower course of the chain 51, hereinafter termed the leftpressure chain, is weighted with heavy blocks 58 with the aid of whichit is pressed down against the panel for the firm frictional engagementthereof between the feed chains 51 and 41. The chain 51 is driven by thetoothed wheel 59 mounted on the shaft Bl] driven through a set of gearsfrom the shaft 49. The idler gear 6| provided on the other end of thechain 51 is mounted on the supporting shaft 62 arranged in brackets 63mounted on the frame 45.

A guide bar 64 is provided along the chain 48 and it extends from theshaft 62, upon which it is mounted at one end, toward the stitchingmechanism, its other end being supported by a shaft 65 on which an idlergear 66 of the right pressure member 68 is mounted, Fig. 3. A number ofrollers or wheels 69 is provided on the guide bar 64 near the shaft 65.The right pressure feed member 68 comprises a flexible connector such asan endless chain covered with a fabric belt 68a, Fig. 5, and this memberruns over a driving toothed wheel mounted on the shaft 68, Fig. 2. Thelower course of the belt covered chain 68 is weighted with blocks 68bwith the aid of which it is pressed down against the panel for the firmfrictional engagement thereof between the feed chains or members 68 and48. The weight blocks 58 and 68b maintain the feed belts 51a and 68a inproper relation at all times and are held in fixed spaced relation bcross shafts or tie rods and 90 (Figs. 3 and 6). The gear ratio betweenthe shafts 49 and 50 is 1:1 and, therefore, said shafts run at the samerotative speed as well as do the driving toothed wheels of the chains41, 51, 48 and 58. Therefore, all of said chains move at the same speedand a panel engaged by said chains is moved at a uniform speed andwithout distortion toward the stitching mechanism.

In operation, as the panels arranged on the chains 41 and 48 reach theleft pressure chain 51, the edge 54 of the panelfirst becomes firmlyengaged between the chains 41 and 51, see Fig. 1. The operator places apiece of cloth 24 over the panel, as it moves toward the stitching nism,arranging the edge 24a of the fabric blank (Fig. 13) against the guidebar 64. As the panel reaches the right pressure chain 68, it becomesengaged between the chains 68 and 48 and is, therefore, firmly held inits assembled position mecharollers 69- engage the panel and. preventbulging up of the cloth as the same is engaged by the right pressurechain 68. The relatively stiff :reinfor'cing tape or strip I9 is unwoundand fed from a roll carried by a reel II and is guided with the aid ofany suitable means to and .be-

'neath the presser foot (Fig. 5) Whencesitis' fed 'to the needle 30 andstitched down at l9a along the edge of the cloth piece, see Fig. 15. Thestitched panels are delivered at thedelivery end of the conveyor and thecloth piece may be turned over by hand in the mannershown in Fig. .16.

It will be understood that means are provided for starting and stoppingthe conveyor and the stitching mechanism. In order to hold the clothvfirmly in proximity to the needle 30, a hold down chain '52 running overtoothed wheels [3 and 14 is provided. The driving wheel 13 is secured onthe shaft 65, while the idler wheel 14 is rotatively mounted on theshaft 15 arranged in the pressure blocks 58 and 68b. (See Figs. 3, 5.and 6.) The shaft 15 is bent as indicated at 150. and the bent end maybeset at the desired angle with the aid of a set screw 16 to increase orto relieve the pressure on the cloth. A depending bracket 11 carryingrollers 18 is mounted on the bridge 21 and serves to hold the panel downon the other side of the needle 30 (see Fig. 5). Thus it will be seenthat the fabric covered panel, the top fabric blank and the fiberbinding tape may be accurately guided and fed to the stitch formingmechanism and simultaneously stitched together in predeterminedrelation.

The above described machine may be used not only for sewing the uppercloth piece as described, but also for sewing the lower cloth piece,which is to say, to bring the panel in the state shown in Fig. 7. Theabove described machine may also be used for many other sewingoperations.

I claim: I

1. .In an apparatus for attaching fabric material to substantiallyinflexible panelling material,

a longitudinally extending conveyor positioned to receive said material,means to drive the conveyor to move said material forwardly, a gauge barextending longitudinally of the conveyor and being substantiallycoextensive therewith and positioned to engage the edge of a piece ofsaid material, a pair of upper conveyor elements, means to drive theupper conveyor elements at substantially the same speed as saidconveyor, the upper conveyor elements having their ends which firstengage the material staggered longitudinally and cooperating with theconveyor to successively move said material forwardly, a guide bar onthe opposite side of the conveyor from the gauge bar and spaced abovethe conveyor, the guide bar extending longitudinally of the conveyorintermediate the ends of the upper conveyor elements which first engagethe material, and means for attaching the fabric material to thepanelling material.

2. In an apparatus for attaching fabric material to substantiallyinflexible panelling, means to attach said fabric material to thepanelling material, a main conveyor element to feed material forwardlytowards said attaching means, an upper conveyor element positioned abovesaid main conveyor element and so positioned that it lies intermediatethe length of said main conveyor element and has its forward end whichfirst engages said material spaced a substantial distance from the endof said main conveyor element,ra gauge bar extending parallel to saidmain :convey'or' element and extending from the, for- .ward end-thereofto the forward end of said upper 'conveyorelement, a second upperconveyor "element engaging said main conveyor element andspacedlongitudinally in the line of feed from the .point of engagement of thefirst mentioned uupper conveyor element with the main conveyor element;a guide bar spaced laterally from the I .gauge bar and'iextendinglongitudinally of the main conveyor element in the line of feedbetweenithe forward end of the upper conveyor element-and the forwardend of said second upper conveyor element, said guide bar beingisp'a'ced vertically above the main conveyor element so that a secondpiece of material can be positioned onthe panel While the panel isgripped on; the conveyor between the main conveyor element and saidupper conveyor element to hold saidfabric and panelling materials in afixed relation. relative to said means for attaching the fabric materialto the panelling material.

3."In' an apparatus for attaching fabric material to panelling material,a'pair oftransversely spaced longitudinally extending conveyor elementspositioned to receive said material, means to drive the conveyorelements in unison to move I said material forwardly, a gauge barextending longitudinally of the conveyor elements and positioned toengage the edge of a piece of said material, apair of transverselyspaced upper (conveyor'elements, means to drive the upper conbar andspaced above the conveyor, the guide bar extending longitudinally of theconveyor intermediate the ends of the upper conveyor elements whichfirst engage the material, and means for attaching the fabricmaterial'to the panelling material.

' CECIL ANDERSON BOYD.

